Palak Paneer - Creamed Spinach with Indian Cottage Cheese
Palak Paneer is a popular North Indian dish made with soft paneer in a mildly spicy, creamy, and flavorful spinach sauce. The creamy spinach sauce is cooked in a medley of exotic Indian spices. It is a simple yet delicious dish to serve along with some basmati rice or naan.
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 300 grams Spinach baby spinach, around 11 oz.
- 5 large Garlic cloves divided -2 sliced, 3 finely chopped
- 1/2 inch Ginger sliced
- 2 Green chillies chopped
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/hing
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Kitchen king masala or 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp Besan
- 200 grams Paneer cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp Yogurt fresh and sweet
- 2 tsp Heavy cream optional
- 5 tsp Oil divided
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- 1/2 tsp Salt or as required
Instructions
Blanching The Spinach
- Boil around 10-12 cups of water in a pot, switch off the heat, and transfer the spinach. You can add half of the spinach, let it start wilting, then add the rest of the spinach, and let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Transfer the spinach to a colander, wash it with ice cold water, and let it sit in the colander for draining.
Preparing The Sauce
- In a pan, heat 2 tsp oil on medium heat. Add green chillies, 2 sliced garlic cloves, ginger, and saute for about 30 seconds.
- In a blending jar, blend the spinach with toasted chillies, garlic, and ginger with ¼ cup of water until it turns into a smooth paste. Set it aside.
Pan Fry The Paneer
- In the same pan, add 3 tsp oil, transfer the paneer cubes, and let them cook for about 3-5 minutes on low heat without changing color. Set them aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together some yogurt, besan, salt, and set aside.
Making The Curry
- Heat some ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
- Next, add some asafoetida, 3 finely chopped garlic cloves, and turmeric powder. Sauté the garlic for about 30-40 seconds.
- Transfer the spinach puree and yogurt mixture. Mix it well and cook the mixture on medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes. If you find that sauce is too thick, you can add 2-3 tbsp water and cook the spinach sauce.
- Next, add kitchen king masala or ½ tsp garam masala to the curry and mix it well.
- Transfer the fried paneer and simmer for about 2 minutes.
- You can optionally drizzle 2 tsp heavy cream while serving the palak paneer.
Notes
- Always triple wash the spinach with ample water before blanching.
- Use fresh, tender, and young spinach leaves for making palak paneer. I always make curry with baby spinach.
- If you are using a different variety of spinach, choose young and fresh spinach leaves. Do not use darker, large, or stale spinach leaves for this recipe.
- Make sure to remove the thicker stems of the spinach leaves. These stems will give a bitter taste to the dish.
- Do not use frozen spinach for this recipe, it will not give a great color to the dish and it won’t taste like authentic palak paneer.
- Make sure to blanch the spinach well but do not overcook it.
- Perfectly blanched spinach gives an amazing color to the dish.
- Make sure to wash the spinach with ice cold water to retain the beautiful green color of the dish.
- Always use a fresh packet of paneer. Otherwise, homemade paneer tastes even better in this recipe. Make sure to set the homemade paneer into the refrigerator for about 8-10 hours before using it in the recipe.
- Always use fresh and sweet yogurt for making palak paneer. If the yogurt is a little sour, then add ½ tsp sugar while making the dish.